Updale, Eleanor - Montmorency

[oyceter]

A petty thief was captured after sustaining heavy injuries falling through a skylight. He becomes the subject of an experimenting doctor, who patches him up, and eventually, he decides to take on the name of Montmorency and comes up with a plan to use the new sewer systems for thievery. He eventually takes on a double identity as Montmorency the gentleman and Scarper the servant.

I liked all the period detail in the book, and of course I was drawn like a magnet to the whole thief thing. Because of that, my favorite parts of the book were when Montmorency was planning things out and doing all that fun caper stuff.

He's not a Robin-Hood-type thief, nor is he rogue-ish like Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards. Montmorency is fairly cold and calculating, which is why he's so interesting.

Later, though, he finds that his life as a gentleman suits him more and more. I'm not sure of what to think of the class issues in the book; Updale skirts around them most of the time by having Montmorency easily pass as upper-class thanks to his skills. He eventually grows to look at his old life in distaste, and while this might be commentary on class divisions, I don't think it is. I got the feeling that the reader is also supposed to look on Montmorency's old life in distaste and believe that he is acquiring virtue along with his rise in class.

I'm also completely unconvinced of the ending, but may continue reading the series just for the capers and the intrigue.

Comments

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

You'll have to review the rest of the series. I liked the first one well enough so I bought the next three and haven't gotten past two. I'm frustrated with the weird imbalance of juvenile writing level (i.e. perfect for the 9-12's reading level as suggested on the back) and a story that wants to unfold into something way more complex and never does.

[oyceter]

Hrm, yeah, good point about the writing level vs. the plot. I keep thinking it would make a really great adult or YA book, and then maybe the ending would have been more complicated and grey.

[littlerhymes]

Re class issues - I didn't get that feeling from book 1, though I can see why you did. You may find this mitigated in book 2 and especially book 3, which explicitly discusses privilege, labour, and socialism. (I haven't read book 4 yet.)

I know what you mean about the tone versus the content. For me, strangely, it worked. I'm not sure why it's shelved in the children's section at all. It reminded me a bit of other YA novels that have that same very direct, straight-forward language, but reach for more complex emotions and concepts - William Nicholson comes to mind at the moment, I'm sure there are others that escape me!

[oyceter]

I think the going to upper-class thing wouldn't have bugged me if it hadn't been linked with Montmorency feeling worse and worse about his criminal life. But I'll be interested to see how it's handled in books 2 and 3.